Photo: Binnette · CC BY-SA 3.0Above 83% of compared French towns: 58% of homes are flats
Where nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, Sassenage has 16%. There were 5,200 households locally at the 2023 Census, home to 11,646 residents. The share of households without a car stands at 8.7%. Half are older than 44.2, older than 51% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Isère median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
A +2% change since 2012: slower than 63% of compared French towns
Residents at INSEE’s last three censuses, each recast in the 2026 commune boundaries. France has no yearly estimate by commune between censuses.
2012 to 2023
2017 to 2023
In two steps, −1% to 2017 and +2% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and +7% in Isère.
Older than 51% of compared French towns: half of Sassenage is over 44.2
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Sassenage 44.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Here, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24. Nothing unusual on residents aged 65 and over: 22%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Isère 51.3%, France 51.8%.
A larger share of couples with children than 59% of compared French towns: 27%
A household is everyone who shares a main home (résidence principale). Household types come from INSEE’s fuller sample of a quarter of census forms.
Against the Isère median and the France median
Living alone · share
On average, 2.2 people share a household. In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%. One-person households are about as common here as in the typical compared French town: 35%.
Sassenage ranks below 55% of compared French towns on households in social housing: 11%
Every home the census counted: main residences, second homes and occasional dwellings (INSEE counts them together), and empty homes. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
All homes · share of homes
Type of home
Cars per household · share of households
5.9% of homes stand empty, about the same as in the typical compared French town. Households in social housing make up 12% in the typical compared French town. Long tenure is the mark of 22% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 8.1% (under two years).
Standard of living at the median: €28,910 a year
The standard of living (niveau de vie) is a household’s disposable income after taxes and benefits, divided by its consumption units (UC) to allow for its size and make-up: 1 for the first adult, 0.5 for each other person 14 or older, 0.3 for each child under 14.
Medians of compared communes. Source: INSEE, Filosofi 2023.
Half of Sassenage’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €28,910 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 78% of compared French towns. Residents below the poverty line make up 9.0%.
A lower share of households headed by a manual worker than 81% of compared French towns, at 9.2%
Households by the socio-professional group (PCS) of their reference person, INSEE’s own categories. Jobs and commuting are on the Work & commute page.
Households by reference person’s group · share of households
Households headed by a retired person make up about one in three here (32%). Set beside that, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
9.6% of residents are immigrants, more than in 68% of compared French towns
INSEE publishes two measures, which overlap but aren’t the same. Neither is the UK’s “born abroad”.
Share of residents · census 2023
Immigrant (immigré)
Born abroad, not French at birth. Someone stays an immigrant after becoming French. A French citizen born abroad (for example in Algeria before 1962) is not one.
Foreign national (étranger)
Not a French citizen today, wherever born. A child born in France to foreign parents can be a foreign national without being an immigrant.
The share of foreign nationals tops 63% of compared French towns: 5.9%. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Sassenage, 45% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 64% of compared French towns
Residents 15 and over by how they live: the census asks both the legal status and whether people live as a couple.
Residents 15 and over · share
Single residents make up about one in four here (25%). Across the comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
In Sassenage, 39% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 78% of compared French towns
Highest diploma of residents 15 and over who have left education, in French terms: the levels don’t map one-to-one to UK or U.S. ones.
Highest diploma · 15 and over, out of education
Where nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, Sassenage has 17%. Typically, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 17th oldest of 41 French towns this size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Dugny (31.9), the oldest Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer (55.2).
Median age: 2 of the 6 towns around Sassenage are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sassenage | 44.2 | 22% | 1.9% | 9.6% |
| Fontaine 22,020 · 1.7 mi | 42.2 | 21% | 1% | 22% |
| Saint-Égrève 17,986 · 2 mi | 42 | 21% | 1% | 10% |
| Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux 6,078 · 2 mi | 37.2 | 17% | 1.6% | 19% |
| Seyssinet-Pariset 11,739 · 2.6 mi | 44.9 | 25% | 1.5% | 11% |
| Fontanil-Cornillon 3,404 · 3 mi | 43.4 | 23% | 1.3% | 9.5% |
| Seyssins 8,092 · 3.5 mi | 46.3 | 26% | 1.3% | 7.5% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Census 2023. INSEE’s census is a rolling survey: a fifth of small communes each year, 8% of homes in large ones each year. “2023” pools the surveys of 2021 to 2025, so the figures describe the town around 2023, not on one day.
- Medians of compared communes. The comparisons are the median of the département’s compared communes and of France’s (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median: not the total for the département or for France, which large cities pull towards their own figures.
- Immigrants and foreign nationals. INSEE’s two measures: an immigrant was born abroad without French nationality; a foreign national isn’t French today. Neither is a count of people born abroad, which INSEE doesn’t publish by commune.
- Second homes. Homes used for holidays or weekends, with occasional dwellings (kept for work, for example), which INSEE counts together. Their owners are counted where they live, not here.
- Standard of living. INSEE’s Filosofi: disposable income per consumption unit, from tax and benefit files, 2023. The poverty rate is the share of residents below 60% of France’s median. Not published for the smallest communes.
- What France doesn’t ask. The French census asks nothing about ethnicity, religion, language or health, so this page has no such section.
Questions about who lives in Sassenage
What is the population of Sassenage?
11,646 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (11,473).
How old are Sassenage’s residents?
The median age is 44.2, older than 51% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sassenage?
110, with occasional dwellings: 1.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sassenage?
INSEE counts 1,120 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 9.6% of residents, and 680 foreign nationals (5.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sassenage?
€28,910 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 9.0% of residents live below the poverty line. Source: INSEE, Filosofi.
Sources: INSEE, census 2023 (population, ages, households, homes, marital status, diplomas, immigrants, foreign nationals, employment), 2026 geography · INSEE, Filosofi 2023 (standard of living, poverty) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated November 9, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.